Eliminating Global Arms Trade Crucial to Security, Sustainable Development,

Speakers Stress as DPI/NGO Conference Round Tables Continue

(Received from a UN Information Officer.)

MEXICO CITY, 10 September ‑‑ Taking weapons out of the hands of those who used them would help save lives everywhere, but that alone would not stop the thriving global arms trade and make the planet safer, Alfredo Ferrariz Lubang, Regional Representative of the Bangkok-based Nonviolence International South East Asia, said as the sixty-second annual DPI/NGO Conference continued in Mexico City this morning.

Speaking during a round-table discussion titled “Removing the Tools of Armed Violence”, Mr. Ferrariz said that, in order to understand how weapons threatened security, one must understand the international arms business.  A trader of weapons saw Governments, guerrilla groups, crime rings and individuals alike as buyers and potential buyers of small arms and light weapons, a fact that strategies to combat armed violence must address comprehensively.  The 2006 Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development was a good start, but it was not legally binding.  It should be strengthened and linked to the Millennium Development Goals, which at present did not call for reducing armed violence.

Strategies to end armed violence must also consider that most of the 740,000 deaths resulting from that violence every year did not take place in war zones, he continued, pointing to a study by the Global Burden of Armed Violence presented during the 2008 Summit on the Geneva Declaration.  Many of the victims lived in refugee camps, or were murdered in urban areas or by family members.  Only 200,000 of those annual deaths occurred in conflict zones.  The study further showed that armed violence in major conflict zones accounted for $163 billion in lost productivity worldwide every year.

Describing his personal experience of witnessing the collection and destruction of small arms and light weapons in South-East Asian countries, he said that even young children, sensitized to the dangers and horrors of weapons, were involved, handing in their toy guns, swords and computer gun games for destruction in “peace gardens” set up for that purpose.  Getting rid of those weapons was an important part of the sustainable development process because they undermined the security of individuals, communities and States.  Rape, often used as a weapon of war and intimidation, also undermined the security, rights and dignity of women and girls, as well as their communities.

Alexander Galvez, Co-founder and Executive Director of the Transitions Foundation of Guatemala, described for the round table his first-hand experience of how weapons undermined security.  A personal victim of firearms, he said he had been shot and permanently disabled by a gang member in Guatemala in 1996, the very year in which a peace treaty was signed to end that country’s 36-year-long civil war.  His personal tragedy was a testament to the widespread use of weapons not just by armies and guerrilla movements, but also by gangs and other non-State actors.

Guatemala and many other Latin American countries had adopted anti-gun laws, but their implementation was weak, he continued.  The rights of victims, many of whom had been physically maimed and socially and economically marginalized, had not been properly factored into the conversation about reducing the arms trade.  Governments worldwide were investing heavily in campaigns to get people to stop smoking, but efforts to end the sale of firearms paled in comparison.  That must change, including through the diversion of defence budgets to help victims of armed violence.

Christiane Agboton Johnson, Deputy Director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), said that disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes for ex-combatants in armed conflicts were an effective way to curtail the use of small arms and light weapons ‑‑ the main tools for conflicts, criminal activities and domestic violence in all parts of world.  Partnerships between local and international non-governmental organizations and Governments in African countries emerging from conflict were a means of raising awareness of the dangers posed by small arms and to promote the voluntary surrender of such weapons in exchange for community development incentives.  Thanks to a recent civil society-Government partnership in Senegal, rebels in the south had voluntarily turned in their weapons for the first time in 20 years.  More such synergy and cooperation between civil society and Government security forces were needed locally, nationally and regionally in post-conflict areas.

All stakeholders must be involved in tackling the root causes of demand for small arms and the impact of armed violence, she said, stressing that, while the challenge was great, it could not be ignored.  Disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control meant different things in different parts of the world.  In Africa, for example, disarmament meant removing small arms to give ordinary citizens a normal life and freedom from fear.  Disarmament also added to peace, development and security.  Many questions must be considered, including the purpose of arms and who possessed them.  Were they used for State security, to defend a family or for cultural purposes?  Were they present in homes, offices or schools?  How could tools of violence among youth in schools be reduced?  Such questions must be addressed.

Moderating the round table, Pablo Macedo, Director General of the United Nations Department of Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Chairperson-designate of the Fourth Biennial Meeting of States (BMS4) to Consider the Implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, said armed violence had not been a priority on the international disarmament agenda until 2001, when the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects had adopted the Programme of Action.  Five years later, 42 States had adopted the 2006 Geneva Declaration.

In signing that Declaration, States had recognized the link between the fight against the global scourge of armed violence and prospects for sustainable development, agreeing to strengthen efforts to integrate armed violence reduction and conflict prevention programmes into national, regional and multilateral development frameworks and strategies, as well as into humanitarian assistance, and emergency and crisis management initiatives.  Armed violence affected the social structures and development of developing countries, and must be addressed immediately.

During the ensuing question-and-answer period, several non-governmental organization representatives stressed that Governments in major weapons-producing and weapons-selling countries must show the political will to curb the manufacture and sale of arms, and divert the funds of that $1 trillion-plus annual trade into poverty eradication and sustainable development initiatives.  Illegal arms holders must be sanctioned because, as long as their crimes went unpunished, the bloodshed would continue and innocent people would die.  The representatives asked how non-governmental organizations could work with Governments to ensure that offenders were brought to justice.

One non-governmental organization representative said that, while strict regulation made it difficult for Mexicans to buy firearms at home, many of them were being supplied with guns from buyers in the United States.  Who was buying those guns and why were the Governments of the United States and Mexico only now beginning to address such an urgent problem?  Another participant stressed the need to tackle armed violence in the United States, particularly in African-American communities.  The United Nations must look at that more seriously as it was directly linked to ending armed violence in Mexico and other parts of the world.

One participant said the Security Council was hugely hypocritical.  Its resolutions and reports on armed violence in Afghanistan called on neighbouring countries to adopt arms embargoes to stop the flow of weapons to Afghan warlords, but never called on arms producers to stop production.  Another participant stressed the need to assist women, who were the main victims of armed violence, and to address the culture of violence promoted in the media.  Young people felt empowered by weapons, emulating the criminals and action heroes they saw portrayed on television shows and in films.  That must change so that children did not glorify violence.

Responding to those interventions, Ms. Agboton said everyone was responsible and had a role to play in reducing armed violence.  Member States must reach agreement and adopt a more coordinated approach to implementing the Geneva Declaration’s Programme of Action, rather than just discussing, negotiating and making tiny changes to texts focusing on disarmament.  Implementation of the actual goals of disarmament treaties must be done on time.  Concerning the education of young people, she said it must indeed focus on teaching children about the horrors associated with armed violence in order to build a secure world for the next generation.

Mr. Ferrariz said the formal disarmament processes in the United Nations were not working.  Political declarations calling for peace were laudable, but legally binding treaties were also needed.  Governments should start negotiating an arms trade treaty next year.  Whether they would do so was a question of political will.  Many Governments were the real culprits in the arms trade.  The 2010-2020 International Decade for Disarmament would provide political momentum, and the emerging approach to global disarmament of the United States under the Obama Administration could be seen as encouraging.

Still, it was important to remember that reducing the arms trade was not just about preventing the export of arms from one country to another, he said.  The entire production, supply and shipment process ‑‑ often involving many stakeholders and nations ‑‑ must be tackled.  Regarding the media’s role, he recalled that newspapers, broadcast networks and other mass media had glorified the sophisticated, high-tech weapons used to bomb Iraq in 2003, and called for a change in attitude.  The citizenry, especially children, must be educated to see the horrors caused by weapons.

Mr. Macedo stressed the importance of developing legally binding instruments to trace the arms brokerage trade, adding that Mexico had participated in the negotiations resulting in the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions banning cluster bombs.

Mr. Galvez said that police and Government officials in some Central American countries, such as Guatemala and Honduras, were involved in the trafficking of drugs and weapons, and it was important to look at ways to end that.

The DPI/NGO Conference will reconvene at 5:30 p.m. today for a round-table discussion titled “Human Development is Human Security”.

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For information media • not an official record